//------------------------------//
// Prologue: A few Choice Words 
// Story: The Doctor's Descent 
// by Midnight Page 
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The Doctor’s Decent
Prologue:  A few Choice Words…
The Doctor was ecstatic, Twilight had insisted on wanting to talk to him in the TARDIS this morning, and he was more than happy to oblige. Twilight even started to make them a snack before she gave into his insistence to make their way to his bedroom. However as soon as they had entered, Twilight turned to him and said, “Well Doctor, I think it’s about time we had a very important talk…”
The Doctor froze and began to look over his favorite mare skeptically. It did appear to be Twilight Sparkle, but still something did not feel quite right…
“What about Marshmallow?” He asked, trying to hide is nervous suspicion of her identity.
A swirling purple flame ran across her body as the mare turned into an onyx black unicorn stallion with a dark blue mane with a silver streak down the middle. What interested the Doctor the most however was while his left eye was a dark blood red, his right shimmered an unnervingly hypnotic bright green.  He smiled with a fanged grin and began.
“Greetings, as you can see, I am not your Twilight Sparkle but a well… let’s just say I am an above average Changeling looking out for your best interests.”
“Who are you and why have you taken the form of Miss Sparkle?”
“Ah yes where are my manners, my name is Midnight Page, and as I have said earlier, I think it is time that you and I have… a talk about your goals.” 
The Doctor growled and replied, “My goals are my own I suggest you leave now before I make you leave, I don’t have time for you.”
Midnight glanced around dramatically before responding to the threat. “Oh yes, terribly sorry, I had no idea doing absolutely nothing would make you so busy.”
The Doctor frowned at the sarcasm from his uninvited guest.
“I will give you one more chance to leave or I will hurt you…”
“Very well then Doctor, I will get straight to the point of why I am here then.” He paused before continuing with a solemn voice.
“Enough is enough Doctor; you can’t sit here forever… Eventually you must choose a side.”
“A side, A SIDE! That is what this is about? I am tired of all this fighting, I don’t care about ponies or anything else in the universe, let them fix their own problems from now on, and I am perfectly content here doing nothing…” 
“Oh really? You don’t seem to be, you can barely go a few hours without leaving the TARDIS on some lust driven desire to bed every young mare you meet or go on some absurd drinking frenzy.”
“What I do in my spare feel time is no concern of yours and I meant I will no longer interfere with the major events of the worlds.”
“Oh is that what you think? You think you can just play around with a few mares and leave the universe to rot?” 
“It’s worked out fairly well so far,” The Doctor said with a sneer.
“I think I finally understand now…” Midnight trailed off in thought as he watched the Discorded Doctor closely.
“Understand what? That I am no longer the man you expect me to be?”
“No I understand the reasons behind you actions.”
“My reasons? How can you know what my reasons are?”
“I know because we are not you different you and I…” The Doctor rolled his eyes at the statement. “Oh I doubt the legitimacy of that.”
“I was once a good pony, striving to help others despite the cost to myself, and I was corrupted as well, twice in fact, once by Nightmare Moon and then again by Queen Chrysalis.”
Midnight paused in memory before continuing.
“And of course I wanted to get revenge on them for what they have done to me.”
The Doctor rolled his eyes again, and said in mock curiosity, “Yes of course, please tell me all about your little sob story.”
“Let me finish Doctor, now as I was saying I was corrupted which created a drive for me to want revenge. However a part of me wanted to forgive them, even thank them for the gifts bestowed upon me.”
“Is there a point to this?” The Doctor asked impatiently as he began tapping his hoof on the ground.
“My point is this, in the midst of the two opposing ideas; I found a third option, a neutral solution if you will.” He paused and with a halfhearted chuckle continued. 
“Instead of merely killing them off or forgiving what they had done outright, I made them my servants, thus not harming them but still getting the revenge of constantly humiliating the two of them. It is a far more rewarding punishment I must say…”
“Well that was all very interesting; I fail to see how it applies to me.”
“It applies to you because it is the very same thing you are doing Doctor. You could still go back to helping the universe; they have not forgotten you despite your wish for them to do so.”
“And I told you that it’s not going to happen.”
Midnight nodded and held up a hoof.
“Or you could simply embrace the growing darkness inside you and become something even the Master would fear to meet.”
“I am nothing like him, he is a monster with no restraint and-”
“It is because of the restraint from such actions that you possess as well as your unwillingness to help others that you choose the third option.”
“Which is?”
“You said it yourself Doctor, nothing. You choose to hide in your box and ignore the world around you.”
The Doctor began to reply but Midnight cut him off.
“And yet you know that you cannot do so forever, at least not without losing much that makes your existence worthwhile. The Master has already warned you that the seeds of destruction have been planted.”
The Doctor was silent as he stared at nothing, tears starting to well in his eyes. Midnight leaned close to his ear.
“Are their lives worth your inaction, Doctor? Are you truly unfeeling to their existence?”
“I would only endanger them further were they closer to me, that was the reason they are targeted in the first place,” he countered.
“Exactly Doctor, and since they are close to you, they may be harmed. Now you can either sit here all alone and let the Master have his way with them or you can rejoin those who still care about you and do something about it!”
“I-I am tired of watching them suffer…” He admitted with a sigh as he turned away.
“And you think hiding in here will avoid that, you must realize that they will face hardships because of your affiliation with them.”
“And what do you expect me to do? Be the valiant hero as I slaughter whole worlds once again just to protect the ones I value more than the thousands of lives of the dead worlds?” The Doctor’s coat flickered to a light tan as he shivered.
“I expect you to decide upon your path, the time for running is just about up Doctor…”
The Doctor screamed in frustration as he punched the wall of the TARDIS, tears streaming down his face as he shuddered. “I can’t do this anymore, to be the patriarch of one world as I wipe others from existence…” Midnight paused and put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.
“If you do decide to start helping ponies again, I would start by repairing your relationship with your old assistant Derpy, which should not be difficult given her feelings for you.”
“Why would I need her, I have Twilight now, a powerful unicorn at my side that is intelligent, clever, and-”
“And emotionally unstable and prone to suicidal actions despite her reassurances that she can handle the new stress in her life since you have grown close to her. Do you truly think she can shrug off your actions so easily, especially the ones involving all those other mares…?”
The Doctor looked up; his eyes burned in a cold anger as he met Midnight’s own judging stare.
“You can’t know that, and even if that were true, she is getting better.”
“Oh yes, she is getting better, and is currently being cared for in a hospital primarily equipped to assist the deranged from harming themselves or each other, do you honestly think she would be fit for any adventures in the near future?” The Doctor glared at him as his coat faded back to gray.
“And what makes Ditzy such a lovely candidate? She has her flaws as well.”
“Of course she does, however Ditzy has the advantage of being used to your adventures and the stress and dangers they bring, furthermore she is more than willing to pledge herself to you whole heartedly if you would but accept her and help others again. And I believe apologizing for your abuse to her will go a long way in any case.”
“And what of her foals do expect me to take them with us? Because I doubt she will leave them behind.”
“Oh I think they could come along for the ride in the TARDIS, after all it’s not like you are running out of room!” Midnight’s voice echoed eerily within the confines of the TARDIS.
“Because if you do not, and even if you somehow convinced her to leave them, your foals will be harmed without further protection.”
“Bah, they have-”
“One stallion, which while committed to the task of protection and skilled in his profession, is at the end of the day still only one stallion.”
“Fine, I will call in a few favors and get them more-”
“And just who pray tell would you call? You have made very few allies as of late and I somehow doubt your old ones would rush to aid you in your current state.”
“If I decide to let her join me again, do you really think she would make much of a difference?”
Midnight Page smiled knowingly. “Now Doctor, I would not count her out so quickly, do you even of her special talent?”
“Oh yes, her ability to destroy anything she sits on? Or is it her ability to betray the ones close to her because of some ideal for the need to help and care for others?”
The Changeling shook his head. “Think about her cutie mark Doctor.”
The Doctor paused before announcing in mock realization, “Ah of course, her ability to nag you constantly with that bubbly and innocent attitude of hers!” 
Midnight sighed in frustration as he resisted the urge to face-hoof and smack the Doctor.
“No Doctor, her ability is the creation of bubbles.”
The Doctor burst out laughing and fell down onto the floor in hysteria.
“B-bubbles? H-how could possibly be useful to me, for a moment there I thought you were serious!”
Midnight groaned and shoved him against the wall and growled angrily as he snatched the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver from his hoof.
“I’ll give you a hint, it has something to do with this, and you are a smart stallion, so I assume you can figure the rest out on your own, if not…. Nightmother help us all….”
“Oi, give me back my sonic screwdriver!” 
The Doctor growled and reached for his beloved tool, only for Midnight to toss it behind him, falling before the silently observing Ananta, who placed a hoof over the object but made no move to return it.
“Are you really picking his side, if he gets his way I will go back to a life of danger…?”
Ananta moved to nudge the screwdriver back over to the Doctor when Midnight chimed in, “And if the Doctor gets his way, he will lose all he cares about and spend the rest of his existence moping about in here, either depressed, mad or perhaps both. Now tell me, is that a fate you wish for him?”
Ananta looked between the struggling stallions before shaking her head and fading into a gold mist back inside her hour glass, leaving the sonic screwdriver where it lay. 
Midnight suddenly released his hold and chuckled a bit as the Doctor fell over with the sudden lack of resisting force.
“I will take my leave now Doctor, I cannot decide for you what your actions shall be, I only hope it will consider what I have said and choose wisely, after all your life is not the only one at stake. And do try and give Ditzy a chance should you choose to return to your old habits. She is quite a surprising mare in more ways than one…”
With that Midnight Page stepped into a shadowy dark purple portal and disappeared, leaving the Doctor to decide his destiny. The Doctor slowly got up and approached his screwdriver. But he was strangely reluctant to pick it up; as if doing so would be to signify a choice he had yet to decide. He idly glanced at his bed, causing his coat to flash tan once again at the sight of his bedspread covered in bubbles. He could still remember the day he bought it in playful reference to Ditzy’s cutiemark, and even now despite what had occurred between them, it comforted him with the warm memories they had shared from their time spent together.  Shaking his head and cursing himself for thinking so foolishly he turned away from his bed in search of a stash of his butter, perhaps a snack would help him decide. The Doctor took a bite of a stick that had been left out from earlier and chewed thoughtfully on what his strange intruder had said. Suddenly the world span and everything faded to black…